This one little weakness
by Pearl22
Summary: Cindy Vortex isn't afraid of anything. Jimmy Neutron thinks he has found a weak spot? Not at all, she certainly is NOT scared of horror movies. She just doesn't want to watch the movie that is all, right? It's Halloween in Retroville! One-shot.


This one little weakness…

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or anything related. I don't own Octopus Man either. But I envy the one who does...not really.**

_A/N: Hello everyone! (I have finally worked out the kinks with my dumb PC) Today's Halloween, so I just thought of this one little (and fluffy) one-shot. I really hope you will like it!_

…

The night of Halloween finally had come. The streets were dark and shadowed, eerie fog slowly rising up. The citizens had made some pretty impressive efforts to decorate their little Retroville as scary as possible. Every house was from the roof till the ground floor adorned with Jack-o-lanterns, spider webs, fake green goo and whatever else they could come up with.

The memory of their last year's Halloween was still very vivid in the citizens' head, thus it did not surprise anyone that the actual almost ancient 'Octopus Man 'costume had become exceedingly popular all of sudden(much to the delight of a certain duck loving Dad).

Jimmy and his friends chuckled silently as they passed by another group of 'Octopus Men' who were eagerly trick or treating. They were all nearly the same age as the gang and although he did promise Carl and Sheen not to bring the subject up _ever_ again, Jimmy could not help but feel like all this dressing up was even more childish (and embarrassing) now. Disgruntled he looked down at his own wardrobe and cringed…how the hell did they convince him to show himself in public like this? Admittedly, it could have been worse. After all being a 'Crazy Scientist', everything he needed was to pimp up his lab coat a bit, create some twisted hairstyle and apply a bit of scary make-up (yuck). Of course all this had been done by his own hands…after last year's (almost) disaster, Carl and Sheen had nearly threatened him to death should he ever use his machine again. Unsuccessfully, he had tried to explain to them that he had worked out all kinks …but the other two Amigops were not convincible.

"After all dude…" Sheen had explained to him as a matter of fact. "…I love crazy monster hunts as much as the guy next door does, but we're risking here our candy profit. And that, Dr. Science…" he had pointed at poor Jimmy, Carl nodding grimly at his side. "…is unhealthy."

Jimmy sighed and rolled his eyes as Sheen and Carl were just about to startle an old lady…but jumped screaming away instead. Sheen was crossing his fingers in defense and howled frightened: "Back away, ye demon!!!"

The old lady shrieked at the sight of the mad kid dressed up as Ultralord and ran away. Satisfied by his power, Sheen waved with his fist after her and screeched:

"That's right, run away! Ultra Sheen shall be merciful as of now!"

Jimmy slapped his forehead and mildly glared at his friend.

"Sheen…if we end up sued by someone, I wouldn't be surprised."

Completely oblivious to Jimmy's statement, Sheen posed proudly. To the fascinated Carl he spoke with his chin lifted high up in the air.

"I know I shouldn't have abandoned my Ultralord costume last year…the old stuff is still the best." His voice grew touchier with every word and he wiped in played emotionality his eyes.

Carl blinked confused at the 'Ultra Sheen'.

"Didn't you tell us, you wore out your costume last year?"

Sheen waved his words nonchalantly off.

"Yes, but I fixed it. On my own!"

A short pause took place between the three boys, Carl and Jimmy staring oddly at each other. A few seconds later however, they could not help but burst simultaneously out:

"YOU?"

Sheen looked offended at them.

"What's this supposed to mean? You guys think I can't use a needle and a fiber? I tell you my sewing abilities are the greatest ever seen!" he stopped as he noticed the expressions on his friends' faces.

"This is way manlier than you think!" he yelled quickly out and stared sheepishly at his feet.

Jimmy and Carl, both trying to hold back their laughter, nodded in agree.

"Yes…" Carl started.

"Manly." Jimmy added sarcastically.

Both burst into a loud fit of laughter, slapping their own legs. Sheen gritted his teeth as his friends amused themselves about him, preparing himself to snap at them.

"Just so you know it…" he could not finish his heated sentence, since his trousers slipped down. Wide eyed he stared at the ground and quickly pulled them up again, whistling an innocent tune and turning deep red in the face. Jimmy and Carl increased the volume of their laughter.

"I think your 'update' wasn't successful, Sheen…" Carl giggled.

Jimmy nodded between his chuckles. "Now that's manly."

Sheen cursed under his breath, still grabbing the seam of his violet trousers.

"Oh no…I can't let my queen see me like this…I gotta change!"

"Hmm…" Jimmy started to mock him. "…I love to help out my best friends as much as the guy next door does, but we're risking here our candy profit if we wait for you. And that, Ultra Sheen…" he grinned broadly at Sheen's disgruntled expression. "…is unhealthy."

Carl high-fived him and both started to walk away, laughing their heads off at their cursing friend who tried to simultaneously run after them and 'keep his dignity'.

A few minutes later they had reached Libby's house, where they were supposed to meet the girls. Just then Jimmy realized that something bad was lying right ahead of him. Bad enough his friends drove him to disguise himself…but what the heck were they thinking when they dressed him up as 'Crazy Scientist'? With this costume, Cindy's possibilities to merciless mock him were practically unlimited! His face burned at this thought…one day, he swore to himself, one day he would find out a real weakness of her…and then they would see who had the last laugh!

But that was kind of wishful thinking, he knew it. Since the whole gossip news show thing, he and Cindy were sort of…going out. Sort of.

Meaning, they were still arch rivals who kind of admitted some affection towards each other, were from time to time holding hands, doing some of the whole 'dating' stuff and got engaged into huge bickering sessions right after. And though Sheen called them a pair 'more insane than a bunch of sea monkeys', their time had taught Jimmy one thing: Cindy Vortex did not have any weaknesses she ever showed. He would not be surprised if she risked to get an 'F' rather than to lose face in front of him. But someday, he repeated his vow, someday he was gonna get to her.

While Jimmy was still busy musing about his costume and his rather odd relationship, Sheen was worrying about a completely different matter…his trousers. His hands slowly tired out and unfortunately the 'Ultra Sheen' had no clue how to fix his costume. Besides, it did not help at all, that Carl was already ringing the door bell, before Sheen even had the chance to say something. Wide-eyes and clearly aware of his dilemma, Sheen watched the door opening slowly up.

Libby and Cindy stepped out the door, both carrying a bag in their hands. The boys smiled at them, when they waved.

"Hey guys!" Libby greeted them shortly. She was dressed up as ancient Egyptian queen, with golden jewelry and glitter, hinting 'discretely' at her origins. At her side, Cindy was wearing a black dress, her face pretty pale. To everyone's surprise after last year's events, she had decided to be a vampire this again…only a fake one, this time.

Carl and Jimmy waved politely back at the girls, when Libby looked irritated at Sheen, who tried to hide the fact he was holding his trousers up as well as he could. With a huge fake smile plastered on his face, he nodded at Libby.

"Hey Shining One…lovely day isn't it?"

His girlfriend looked suspiciously at him.

"Okay…what's going on here?" she asked calmly.

Jimmy and Carl just chuckled and smiled innocently up to her.

"Oh nothing…Sheen's just being manly." The boy genius explained, clearly enjoying the embarrassed expression on his friend's face.

"Wow…this word in connection with the name of one of you three dweebs…now I've heard everything. " Cindy immediately smirked from Libby's side.

Jimmy narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, ready to start an argument. Carl, however, imitating Jimmy's pose, beat him to it.

"Hey…we can be manly too! Today, I cut myself at a paper and I did NOT cry! Ha!" the red-haired boy smiled, convinced by his superiority.

The boy genius just slapped his forehead. Trying to stay as calm as he could, he mumbled:

"Carl…not helping…"

Before they could go further into that matter, Libby walked down the stairs of her porch and threw a glance at another group of kids passing by. Shaking her head, she asked:

"Did you notice you created a real trend last year, Jimmy?" she cocked an eyebrow at Sheen, who quickly scooted away from her approaching figure.

Jimmy rolled his eyes:

"Tell me about it, Dad was ecstatic…you don't wanna know any details, believe me. It seems every kid in town is wearing an 'Octopus Man' costume…"

"Speaking of costumes…" Cindy interrupted him and looked oddly at him. "…what is it what you are supposed to be again?"

Jimmy immediately started to cough. Gaining a few more weird looks by his friends, he chuckled nervously and intertwined his own fingers. Looking down at his shoes, he knew he really could not make her that pleasure.

"Hey Dweebtron! Lost your tongue?" Cindy inquired once more, graciously ignoring Libby who tiredly rolled her eyes.

"No I…" Jimmy started, but cut himself up. She was not going to win this time…not on Halloween, when he felt already ridiculous enough. But of course he should have expected it, when Carl burst in:

"Well Cindy, Jimmy is a---"

"Okay, okay…" the boy interrupted angrily. He stared disgruntled at Cindy and spoke:

"I am…" he rolled his eyes and swallowed. "…a 'Crazy Scientist'. "

For one second everything was quiet. Surprised, Jimmy waited for a response, laughter…_anything_.

Suddenly, he saw Cindy shrugging. With a bored voice she spoke:

"I already knew _that_."

She walked past Jimmy and caught up with Libby, who already had started dragging Sheen along. The boy genius scratched amazed his forehead, contentment arising in him. For once, she had missed a chance to tease him. Perhaps she was not as tough and witty as she always thought herself to be?! The thought made him grin triumphantly.

Just then, the blonde girl turned around and smirked at him:

"You know Jimmy…knowing your faults is the first step curing them. You're making progress."

Laughter immediately rang in his ears and he scoffed disgruntled. He should have known it.

"Oh yeah Vortex, well for your information…"

Cindy continued:

"Well…I think they'll always have a warm nice cell in the asylum for you, don't worry when you blow up your house any time soon."

The boy clenched his fists and walked faster after her.

"Hey, I…"

"Perhaps you'll even get a bonus of pity, if you introduce your father to them! Isn't that luck?"

"Cindy!"

" 'It wasn't his fault he went mad and destroyed the town…he never had a chance at the first place!'…I'm so touched, poor crazy madman." The girl wiped in mock sadness her eyes.

"CINDY!!!"The genius cried furiously out.

"Oh don't overstrain your poor clouded mind, Neutron or…"

"Cindy…" Jimmy walked up to her and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers. "…shut up."

…

One and a half hour had passed since they had started their tour, their bags filling more and more. Carl and Sheen were seemingly ecstatic at the sight of the candy, but even they could not help but notice that things were getting boring.

"Jimmy…on a second thought, can't you let loose one of your inventions again?" Sheen asked, his hands now desperate to give up their position.

Carl nodded in agree.

"The one woman wasn't even scared by our appearance…she hugged us!"

On seeing his truthfully clueless expression, Cindy fought hard with herself not to let her thoughts slip out…but failed gloriously.

"Carl? How exactly do you expect people to be scared by….however you want to call you costume…."

The corpulent boy scoffed offended at her.

"I am Llama Boy with cape! "He proudly showed off the small sheet of fabric, causing Cindy as well as Libby to roll their eyes.

Jimmy smirked at them, feeling affirmed in his opinion.

"See! I told you we aren't in the age anymore for dressing up and trick or treat and…"

"Jimmy, cut it!" Libby interrupted, calm yet firm."The only problem is that it just ain't scary around here…everyone wears the same stupid outfit except us!"

The friends nodded, realizing that the girl was right.

"Ya well…there can't be any good if people start wearing clothes introduced by a crazy scientist…" Cindy started, when Jimmy just glared at her. Chuckling, she batted her eyelashes and asked innocently:

"Oh…is that a weak spot, Mr. Lunatic?"

Jimmy scoffed at her.

"You'll see Vortex, one day I'm gonna find out yours and then…"

The girl burst into loud laughter.

"I'd like to see you try. Face it, Neutron, you can't get to me."

The genius decided to leave it at this point and concentrate on their Halloween dilemma again.

"Anyways…we can't just transform everyone else into monsters, to make Halloween scarier…."

Sheen interrupted him exasperated:

"Dude…which part of 'Crazy Scientist' did you not understand? Of course we can!"

Ignoring the statement, Jimmy went on:

"Why don't we try something traditional to get the right atmosphere? We could watch a horror movie at my lab." He suggested.

"What? Eh…that's a bad idea, Neutron. "Cindy stated immediately.

The others looked at each other.

"Actually…why not?" Libby said casually. Carl and Sheen nodded in agree.

"Well…do you really prefer staying in his little nerdy lab instead of collecting candy?" Cindy inquired and glanced hopefully at her friends.

But they just shook their heads and cocked an eyebrow .

"Cindy…it's b o r i n g! Let's go with the movie, I say!" Sheen screeched at her.

The girl glared at her friends and crossed her arms.

"You can watch a stinking movie every day! Today's Halloween! A one-night-only thing! The night of-"

"BOREDOM!!!" Sheen and Carl yelled simultaneously and gave each other thumbs-up (Sheen tried to, at least). Even Libby could not hold back a small giggle.

"Who needs your opinion, you little dorks?" Cindy snapped at them and clenched her fists.

Watching her slowly tensing up, Jimmy reminded her:

"Well…it seems like we're four against one, Miss Vortex!"

None of them noticed Cindy biting her lip as she spoke:

"But…this so gonna ruin every…uh Halloween spirit!" interested she looked down at her nails.

The others exchanged confused glances.

"Halloween spirit?" Libby asked suspiciously, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

The blonde girl nodded quickly and assured:

"Yes…it's just you know the atmosphere…and a movie is just…eh…" she trailed off as she met the disbelieving gaze of her best friend.

Jimmy cocked his right eyebrow and smirked at her, putting his most annoying know-it-all face on.

"Cindy…if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're chickening out!"

Carl and Sheen gasped at this almost blasphemous statement. However Jimmy could gather up so much creativity as to come up with something as _ridiculous_ as this, was beyond them.

Cindy's eyes widened for a moment, before she asked in played firmness:

"Whatever is that supposed to mean?"

Jimmy could see her eyes glancing everywhere but at him. Smiling, he dug deeper.

"It's supposed to mean that you're getting afraid of watching a horror movie, Cindy."

For a second, Cindy was at a loss for words. On seeing her friends' gazes getting more and more suspicious, she quickly covered up:

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life, Nerdtron! I just think your idea will ruin our day….but if you all insist…" she rolled her eyes and sighed.

Unfortunately the friends insisted. Groaning, Cindy followed them as they headed back to Jimmy's lab, muttering disgruntled under her breath. However, as they just had been going for two minutes, she felt a light touch on her cheek. Flushed, she turned her head to see Jimmy smiling at her, a spiteful twinkle in his eyes.

"You know, it's really no shame to be afraid, Cindy…" he mocked her and giggled.

The girl touched the tingling spot on her skin he just had kissed and glared darkly at him.

"I'm never afraid, you jerk."

...

"Okay….you guys rather want to watch this one?" Jimmy held up a dark red DVD cover. "Or this one?"

While the other ones were deciding, Cindy rolled her eyes and exclaimed loudly:

"How about none of them? "

All eyes turned around to her. Noticing her mistake, the girl quickly added:

"Not that I am afraid or something…" her supposed calm laughter came out rather sheepishly.

Sheen sat down on the couch Jimmy had positioned for them in the middle of the lab, glad to finally be able to let go of his iron grip around the seam of his trousers. Slowly comprehending the situation, he added:

"Suuuure you're not…"

Libby smirked and poked Carl's side.

"That'd be ridiculous, uh?" she asked with a chuckle.

Carl responded just as taunting as his friends:

"Yeah…Cindy is never afraid of anything!"

The blonde girl twirled nervously the tip of her pony tail, not pleased at all where this was heading.

"Would you please stop that?! I just do not like any of those two movies!" she assured them.

Jimmy raised one eyebrow at her.

"But you'd dare to watch them?"

Cindy groaned frustrated.

"What is it with you dweebs?! Of course I'd dare it! I am not scared by horror movies, you hear me?! " she gestured wildly with her hands, trying to make them understand.

Jimmy smiled at her…in a teasing kind of way. She hated it when he did that…teasingly smiling was her job!

"Well…then I say we'll just go for them. Both of them."

Cindy's face got seemingly paler in the matter of a second.

Knowing, he was about to make her façade crack, Jimmy continued to rub it in:

"I mean, since none of us is afraid…"

"But…" Cindy cut him off. Her friends all smirked at her. The shaky tone in her voice had left no room for doubts. Slightly excited by seeing the fabulous Cindy Vortex getting weak, Sheen and Carl laid back in order to enjoy the show. Libby joined them, since she always enjoyed a good laugh.

"Yes Cindy?" Jimmy asked sickeningly sweet.

"…I don't think our parents would like us to watch these…" the girl in front of him stuttered, trying to ignore the snickers coming from the couch.

Jimmy waved her statement nonchalantly off.

"Those are rated for our age…there's hardly anything your parents could find worrying…except of course if you're…uh…extremely sensitive."

The girl narrowed angrily her eyes.

"Hey, I'll show you sensitive!" she was about to shove up the sleeve of her dress, when Jimmy retorted:

"I guess it's settled then, isn't it?"

Seeing she had gotten herself into a trap, Cindy sighed defeated and replied:

"Yeah, let's get over with these stupid movies!"

Jimmy just smiled again and prepared the first movie to play.

To get the right atmosphere, they had turned off all the lights in the lab. All together they sat on the couch, Sheen on the outer left side next to Libby, Cindy on the outer right side next to Jimmy and Carl being in the middle.

The movie had just started, when a certain person loudly cleared her throat.

"Uh…I am horribly thirsty…be right back!" Cindy quickly spoke and jumped up…however Jimmy grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back again, still grinning triumphantly at her.

"You don't want to miss anything, do you?" he asked her mischievously. "Goddard! One Purple Flurp please!"

Disgruntled Cindy watched the robotic canine carrying the bottle.

The movie's plot was not exactly the greatest shocker out there…but Jimmy knew that some people did not have the nerves to watch even the most ridiculous movie if atmosphere and sound effects were scary enough. And although he never would have thought it to be possible, his (kind of) girlfriend seemed to belong to these people. Perhaps Halloween was not so bad after all, he though amused.

Indeed, did Cindy's mouth quiver every time the music changed. Enjoying the feeling of discovering one of her weaknesses, Jimmy looked more at the girl beside him, than at the movie itself.

Again and again he saw her tense up and biting her lip. The sight was completely weird to him…even Carl at his other side was staying calm. And this was saying a lot.

Suddenly, Cindy interrupted the movie again. With a heavily shaking voice she said:

"Do we really need to watch the entire movie?"

All heads turned around to her.

"Why not?" they all asked simultaneously.

Cindy let a small chuckle.

"Well...uh…because I just don't want…" she paused for a second. "…uh…Carl to get scared." She pointed at the red-haired boy with an expression that seemed to say: Please do not leave me hanging here!

Unfortunately for Cindy, Carl for once in his life was not scared. Smiling he told her:

"This excuse ain't work this time!"

Cindy swallowed.

"We understand if you are scared Cindy, really!" Libby assured her with a twinkle in her eye.

"Uh…no I…I…am not!" she retorted, less strong as before as her eyes returned every moment to the screen again.

The friends just shook their heads. If even Carl and Sheen had understood what was going on, the girl was just a hopeless case, even if she did not know that yet.

The movie went on (only with a few interruptions) when Jimmy felt suddenly a slender hand slipping into his. Amazed he was about to turn his head, when he felt the hand squeeze his own tightly. A faint smirk reappeared on his face. It seemed as though someone was slowly losing their defense.

A scream sounded from the screen and immediately the hand squeezed stronger. If he had not been afraid of losing his hand, it might even have felt nice…it always did when they held hands. But this time he seriously was wondering whether he would make it out of the movie with two functional hands.

Simultaneously he was enjoying the sweet taste of victory. If she admitted it or not, Jimmy had had found a weakness of Cindy's. Years of rivalry just had affected him too much as not to make him feeling all happy because of this discovery.

Nonetheless, he turned finally his head and looked at Cindy's pale face which was only lightened by the screen's shine.

Whispering, he asked her:

"Uh…could you please not squeeze my hand to death, Cindy?"

The girl looked startled at him as though being clueless. Just then, Jimmy realized she had not even noticed her action…her fear had just instinctively made her grab his hand. Quickly, she lessened the pressure, but much to his secret joy she did not pull away.

"I…did not do that because I am afraid, if that's what you're thinking, Neutron!" she quickly whispered back.

Jimmy just nodded and sent her a meaningful look.

"Whatever…"

Five minutes later however, he noticed she was sitting much more closely to him than she had before. Actually, she was almost hanging on him...it was just too hilarious that strong, independent Cindy was getting scared by such a harmless horror movie.

Anyways, there was no way he could discretely remove her…and actually Jimmy would have preferred to get some oxygen.

He rolled his eyes in amusement and whispered again:

"Okay Cindy…just admit it. It's okay really!"

Slightly shivering, she looked up again, her gaze not as firm by a long shot as she wanted it to.

"Why would you say that?!"

Jimmy shook exasperated his head and attempted to scoot a few inches away…his lungs definitely wanted their well-deserved oxygen.

"Duh…I dunno? Maybe because you're almost suffocating me?" he spoke whispering.

Cindy closed her eyes as something scary happened on screen. As they fluttered open again, she glared at him.

"You would love that, wouldn't you?"

The boy just smirked at her.

Sighing, Cindy rolled her eyes and let go of their position. Cuddling deeper into the couch, she mumbled:

"Alright. I, Cindy Vortex am scared by horror movies. Happy now?" she cringed as the infamous words escaped her lips.

Jimmy's eyes widened in delight at her confession. Finally! Finally, he officially had found a weak spot of the ever so 'undefeatable' Cynthia Aurora Vortex. Forget everything he had said about Halloween, the day simply rocked! Smiling, he told her:

"Actually, I am now."

Cindy scoffed and scooted further away from him, trying not to glance at the screen. On seeing her expression, however, Jimmy's face softened.

"But you know…" he muttered and she looked at him again. "…you really shouldn't be scared. It's just a stupid movie. Scientifically everything there is completely impossible and crud."

He still kept his voice low, so his friends would not notice their conversation. Indeed the other three were too entranced by the movie as to notice anything, Libby slightly leaning up against Sheen. So Jimmy dared to do something, both Cindy and he actually were too shy to do most of the time. Swallowing all the awkwardness he felt at this moment, he pulled Cindy into a kind of hug, holding her oddly tight. Cindy's eyes widened at the unexpected gesture and she stared blankly at him. However as she saw him smiling, she slowly relaxed, both forgetting that they usually would not display their (kind of) affection for each other that openly…on top of it in 'public'!

She snuggled tighter against him and they simply rested in this position, still none of their friends noticing anything. Cindy smiled weakly:

"Well it is a stupid movie, that's about right…"

Her eyes widened in shock at the movie's current scene and she clang scared to him. Still partly amazed that this frightened girl was his Cindy, Jimmy mumbled pacifying:

"No need to be afraid, really."

His eyes turned back on the screen, the girl still snuggled up against him. Suddenly however, he felt a soft pressure against his lips and froze. The kiss did not last long, but it still sent a major shiver down his spine. Cindy laughed quietly at his surprised face and smirked in her familiar manner at him.

"Don't you expect a weak moment like this whole movie thing to ever happen again, Neutron!" She threatened him playfully.

Jimmy just smiled and replied:

"I won't, Vortex."

A moment later she clung to him again, since another monstrosity had just come to view.

When the movie ended, a delighted Sheen jumped up from the couch and screeched:

"Wasn't this terrifying?! AWESOME!!!"

His friends just stared mildly disturbed at him. Carl coughed nervously, trying to give his friend a hint.

Sheen looked amazed around, till his eyes reached the very ground beneath him. Face deep red, he bend down and pulled up his Ultralord trousers again. He chuckled nervously at his friends and exclaimed sheepishly:

"…Happy Halloween…"

…

_A/N: This horror movie fear…well it's something I' m way too familiar with. I just got this idea…Cindy doesn't always seem so brave after all (one scene that I remembered clearly while writing was the one in Win, Lose and Kaboom, when she hides behind Libby when the voices begin to call them) …and I just felt like writing it. What do you think? Good? Bad? Nothing? I really want to know! Please review._

_Love and a Happy Halloween, firepearl!_


End file.
